Cyprus News

1. President says talks need to resume based on proposals that benefit Cypriots and not the interests of third parties

President Nicos Anastasiades has said that what needs to be decided during Sunday’s dinner with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci is the resumption of the UN peace talks based on realistic proposals that will be to the benefit of the people of Cyprus and will not serve the interests of any third country. House Speaker Dimitris Syllouris said that given the Turkish stance, it is unrealistic to believe that a just and viable solution is an easy task. It is better not to make any remarks before the dinner, FM Kasoulides has said.

2. Cyprus and Greece are stability pillars in the region, says Greek Minister of National Defence

Cyprus and Greece create a stability pillar for the region which is affected by wars and conflicts, Greek Minister of National Defense Panos Kammenos has said. In statements in Nicosia, following a doxology for the anniversary of the anti-colonial liberation struggle of 1955-1959, held at St. John` s Cathedral, Kammenos expressed the belief that this geopolitical strengthening of Cyprus and Greece and Cyprus and Greece can be used as the means to solve other problems, like the Cyprus problem.

Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aleksey Meshkov reiterated on Friday Moscow’s firm support for negotiations in Cyprus. He was speaking after a meeting, at the Foreign Ministry in Nicosia, where he met with the Ministry`s Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Alexandros Zenon.Meshkov said that Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has always taken into consideration the position of the Republic of Cyprus, when voting for the relevant resolutions. He added that Moscow "will be around” when needed.

4. Cyprus and India discuss further economic cooperation

The Foreign Minister of Cyprus Ioannis Kasoulides and the Minister of State for External Affairs of India Mobashar Jawed Akbar discussed Friday the potential of further economic cooperation between the two countries. Cyprus is the 8th biggest investor in India, with a cumulative foreign investment of more than 9bln USD, the two Ministers said in their statements, while expressing their intention to facilitate further cooperation in areas, such as new technologies and tourism.

5. We want to protect what exists now which Britain and Cyprus value, Kidd comments on Brexit

The UK believes that the outcome of the negotiations on Brexit with regard to Cyprus should protect what currently exists which is of value to Britain, to Cyprus and the rest of the EU member states, British High Commissioner Matthew Kidd has said. Furthermore he said that not leaving Europe, also means continuing to value probably even more the bilateral relationships that the UK has with EU member states.

The British government has granted access to the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) to research the archives of the Ministry of Defence for the periods of 1963 and 1974. Access has also been given to the archives of the British Bases in Cyprus.The third member of CMP Paul-Henri Arni said that in the following months a team will travel to London in order to studay these archives.Arni on Friday received the British High Commissioner in Cyprus Matthew Kidd who donated 124,000 euro to the CMP in order to carry on with its activities.

7. Energy Minister to participate in Cyprus-Greece-Israel-Italy meeting on EastMed

Cypriot Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism Yiorgos Lakkotrypis will be departing for Tel Aviv on Sunday, to participate in a meeting on Monday between the Ministers of Energy from Cyprus, Greece, Israel and Italy, to discuss the EastMed natural gas pipeline. The meeting will be held in the presence of European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete and will be concluded with a joint press conference.

8. New National Guard Chief sworn in

Lieutenant General Ilias Leontaris, the new National Guard Chief, was sworn in, on Friday, at the Presidential Palace. Addressing the swearing in ceremony Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades spoke of the reforms under way in the National Guard, the Republic`s armed forces.He also referred to an upgrade of the armed forces through the development of a new defence diplomacy and spoke of the cooperation agreements Cyprus has signed with neighbouring and other countries.

9. Government borrows €3.6 mn from local investors

The Public Debt Management Office said on Friday that it has borrowed €3.620.900 in a six-year government bonds auction for natural persons. The Office said that it accepted all the 64 tenders submitted by local investors.

10. Lending interest rates in Cyprus mark a decrease in February

Lending interest rates in Cyprus marked a decrease in February 2017, compared to January 2017, according to the Central Bank of Cyprus. The Central Bank released on Friday the statistics on interest rates applied by monetary financial institutions in Cyprus on deposits and loans in Euro for the reference month of February 2017.CNA